Dieter’s smoky, viridian eyes monetarily lingered on the mutilated carcass that acted as an impromptu sheathe for his blade. If e of his comrades paid close enough attention, they’d have sworn that his eyes glimmered with an irrational combination of admiration and sorrow. If nothing else, Dieter admired the fallen beast for rising to meet his unorthodox challenge. A deep-rooted part of him harbored regrets that he had to cut down such a magnificent, well-trained killing machine in its’ prime. Alas, this worthy adversary fault had been nothing more than its’ pride, it’d believed that it held an insurmountable advantage of the fiery-haired youth. Truthfully, if Dieter hadn’t managed to get within its’ reach and momentarily stun it with the unorthodox concussive blow, the outcome of the bout would have been drastically different. One couldn’t deny that Dieter had paid a hefty price to secure his victory, especially given the fact that his arm had just seconds before been hanging limply by his side. Even now, Dieter had brought his uninjured arm up to cradle his resocketed shoulder; this did little to mitigate the fiery pain the coursed through that side of his body.

DIeter’s lips moved in muted prayer as he paid homage to the fallen warrior that laid at his feet. Sadly, Dieter’s injuries rendered him unable to effectively wield his beloved Fellsword, Ardonlight, it was a two-handed blade; Dieter’s surprisingly strength allowed to use his dominate hand to wield it one-handed. His muttered a curse under his breath as he turned to face his comrades. Celes’ actions only served to further prove her versatility as well as his initial thoughts about her; she was adept in a myriad of unexpected fields. One could claim that she was the living embodiment of jack-of-all-trades. Celes’ could have singlehandedly given most renowned Ivalice Court Mages a run for their gil, she’d managed to unleash two third-tier spells of opposing elements in rapid succession; a feat which required a vast mana pool and grew knowledge of the Arcanum. Even at his distance, he felt the sweltering heat of Celes’ flames as they surged forward to consume the trio of coruel. Alas, the trio was only injured by her last efforts, which only served to further irritate them.

The Alpha’s response to her assault was to unleash its’ decimating electrical charge. Celes undeniably had balls of steel because she’d braved its’ assault, she’d made no effort to move out of the way; if anything, she’d charged forward to protect her comrades. Unfortunately, Dieter knew that he was too far away to provides Celes with any form of support aside from a long-ranged magical bombardment; The electrical mass would just pass right through his flames though. He’d watched in horror as Celes extended her blade towards the rapidly approaching crackling mass, she’d fearlessly utilized her magical prowess to alter its trajectory. In Dieter’s eyes, she’d resigned herself to death in order to protect her comrades. The fiery-haired daemon’s breathe hitched in his chest and his heart skipped a beat as the Blaster collided with her outstretched sword. His eyes only widened further as her blade glowed with incomprehensible runes. For a split second, it felt as if the entire world came to a halt, this imagined statis was disrupted by the series of supernova’s that Celes willed into existence. 

Was this breathtaking beauty even human? He’d only witnessed magic of his caliber once in his entire life, Lord Belias’ had invoked the same spell once to showcase its’ destructive potential; a subtle reminder to those who dared oppose him. Dieter had never dared invoke such power, he’d elected to reserve it for a true emergency; he doubted he’d be much use in battle after expending so much energy. Celes’ fatigue-addled voice resonated across the battlefield as she beseeched Vincent to end it. Of the three, one had been reduced to nothing more than a charred, unidentifiable husk and the other two had numerous grievous injuries; they’d die within the hour even if they’d elected to do nothing. The desperate beasts had already come to the conclusion that their odds of taking Celes’ were miniscule at beast. Vincent due to possessesing long-range capabilities was also a hard target, which in turn meant that their only viable target was the injured Dieter. One of the Coruel began to charge up a Blaster as it surged forward, a salvo of bullets from Vincent’s gun ended its life.

The lone survivor charged forward, its’ shocking speed and sporadic movements enabling it to frantically dodge some of the crimson-cloaked sharpshooters’ bullets; albeit six shots found refuge in its’ hips. Under normal circumstances, this would of likely rendered the beast crippled, yet its’ body still surged forward driven only by its’ desperation to avenge its’ pack. It was determined that if it was going to die that it was going to take one of them with it. Dieter saw all of this happening, he’d heard Vincent’s warning but due to the beasts’ continued acceleration he was given little time to respond. He’d begrudgingly accepted he didn’t have enough time to effectively brandish his weapon, not to mention if even if he’d used the same tactic he’d used earlier there was no guaranteed it’d finish the beast; not to mention that both of his arms would likely be momentarily out of commission. Dieter’s eyes drifted slowly shut as if he was resigning himself to his fate, that he’d accepted that the end of his millennium long life was finally coming to an end.

No, Dieter could never accept such a thing, he’d swore an oath to his revered Lord, he’d solemnly promised that he’d only die when he was given permission. His face remained perfectly serene as he began to direct his energy inwards in an effort to rouse the suppressed beast within; it’d been nearly two decades since he’d last assumed his true form. The beast within only answered his call once the Coruel’s massive paws were just inches away, its’ dagger like claws outstretched to rend him from shoulder to groin. For a split second, the very air around Dieter seemed to be distorted, tainted by the presence of the bloodlust he’d tried to hard to suppress surged forward; its’ very nature couldn’t even be remotely described as something human. Celes and Vincent would likely hear the stomach curtling sound of Dieter’s bones and joints popping as his muscles reconfigured themselves, the pained wail escaping his lips as the skin that covered his spine stretched paper thin only to audibly tear. If they could see underneath his leather armor, they’d see that Dieter’s very spine had begun to length itself to accommodate the appearance of another appendage, a long, hoary-furred tail. Once the worst of the pain subsided, Dieter’s lips curved upwards into a sadistic grin, one that revealed his now elongated canines.

His ears elongated, the skin stretching until it hung inches off the top of his head, the series of crunches as his cartilage shifted about could be heard. The next thing that had visibly changed was Dieter’s hair, its’ previously fiery red tone had been replaced by a hoary-silver. This change had been nearly instantaneous yet to onlookers and himself, it felt as if an eternity had passed. Only now did Dieter’s eyes begin to crack open. Their once lack lustered green-hued had been replaced by a striking yellow, not to mention his pupils were now silted like the predator he truly was. His good arm up above his head in order to catch the descending limb, the very tips of its’ claws just centimeters from his vulpine-ears. One could see that his spindly fingers began to delicately curve over a portion of its arm before closing in a vice-like grip. The offending beast’s response was a deafening-pained roar that was matched by a resounding snap; he’d broken a portion of its tibia and fibula. The fingers of his injured arm began to teasingly wiggle by his side. HIs nails had undergone a rapid period of growth during his transformation, they extended a couple inches beyond the very tip of his finger.

He painfully ran the very tip across the beast’s skin, wherever his nail went it drew a matching line of crimson. He increased the pressure momentarily and flayed a small section of flesh from the beast. It’s mouth widened as it roared and attempted to lunge bat Dieter with its other arm, its mouth gnashing in an effort to catch his neck. It’d never succeeded in its’ efforts though an unearthly amaranthine-hued flame began to radiate from Dieter’s body. Its’ very presence began to singe the earth around him, the smell of burnt flesh and fur now lingered in the air again as the part of it’s arm that Dieter held in his hand was being burned. Dieter’ felt his strength increasing as he burned some of his vitality, he was exchanging a portion of his energy in order to bolster his strength. What happened next was undoubtedly the thing of nightmares. Dieter’s grip on the beast’s one arm was released, it revealed that the flesh underneath was blacked and a portion of charred muscle and bone was visible. He said nothing as the beast’s now unsteady form fell towards him. He wordlessly stepped in towards the beast, dodging its’ desperate paw and ducking under its’ gnashing jaws.

DIeter’s golden eyes softed for a moment, he’d release it from it’s suffering soon enough. DIeter’s uninjured arm shot forward and one could hear the resounding snap of a portion of it’s ribs. Albeit it didn’t end there as it’s blood-curtling wail lasted for a split second before one could see the tips of Dieter’s talons emerge on the other side of its chest with a small burst of bone fragments. If they looked carefully they’d still see a portion of its’ still-beating heart that sizzled on his flame-coated hand. DIeter wrenched his arm free, which in turn revealed the now-goaping hole which blood spilled from, liberatelly coating the ground at his feet as he quickly stepped back to avoid being crushed by the beat’s full-dead weight. The burst of strength he’d utilized already showing the toll on his body as his breaths came out in haggard bursts. One could see the effects of his transformation beginning to regress, but not before Dieter got to look at both of his comrades’ faces; he wasn’t truly sure what their expression told him.
.

@kuja

NOTES ---